Auto Thumbnail Created When Inserting Image?

[virgonova]

I would like a thumbnail to be generated upon inserting a file into a container field. I've set up two container fields, one for thumbnail & one for image - I'll be inserting PDF files in the image container. Any advice would be helpful.

[Kent Searight]

PDF's are not image files, so you can't create a thumbnail (or show embedded images, for that matter) of one in a container.

The closest you could achieve is the PDF icon if you insert the PDF as a file.

[Fenton]

They can be image files on Mac OS X, and FileMaker can create a thumbnail. Doesn't look like much however, as a PDF is typically a page with mixed text and graphics.

If you use Insert Picture instead then it will print OK. But it will look pretty crummy on the screen in FileMaker 7; looks like non anti-aliased text, skinny and scraggly. It looks OK in FileMaker 8; they must have fixed the rendering to the screen.

Also there's the problem that Insert Picture of a PDF is only the first page. Insert as Quicktime is all the pages, with the movie controls at the bottom. Same image quality (mediocre). We recently discussed this here:

http://www.fmforums.com/forum/showtopic.php?tid/170043/post/177427

Interesting enough, Import Folder brings PDFs in as Quicktime, so the multiple pages are accessible via the movie controls when you click in the field (if the layout is tall enough).

[i was partly wrong. Import Folder or Insert Quicktime works fine for browsing. The text doesn't look so hot UNTIL you click into it, in order to show the movie controls. The text then smooths out nicely. It still prints crappy though.]

We didn't talk at all about thumbnails there however. As I said, a 128x128 thumbnail of a PDF isn't going to show much. But you can create it on a Mac with either Import Folder, or a graphics app, or AppleScript. With Import Folder, you can use the Import Matching option on the file name to bring in the correct file. File names must be unique however, and the receiving table must show all records first to match all existing,

Edited October 11, 2005 by Guest
Click the movie!

[Kent Searight]

Ah, then I stand corrected, Fenton. I tried everything I could think of on Windows and nothing worked.

Thanks for the correction!